Jul 7, 2008

What started out as a long overdue recap of the Capsule Street Fair (aka my RECAPsule) has quickly turned into a detailed description of the redesign of my Vivi Dot booth. So here it goes...

This May's Capsule Design Festival was a success! I was busier than usual before the event because I decided to redesign my entire booth. I've been wanting to add some height to my display for some time so everything wasn't just flat on my table, but I didn't have any specific plans beyond that. That was until I was at Target and saw a garden mushroom that for some reason I knew I had to have. I wasn't sure what I'd do with it at the time of purchase, but before long I had envisioned a total overhaul of my booth with the mushroom as my inspiration. A lot of the fabrics I use feature whimsical forest creatures like squirrels, owls, hedgehogs, mushrooms, etc so I figured a happy forest theme was a good fit.

I had a bunch of grandiose ideas about how my booth could come together if I had all the time and resources I desired. I talked through some of my ideas with Duncan and his dad over dinner and Jeff suggested that I check out the flower mart as they would likely have most of the things I needed to make my brainstorms a reality. Duncan and I headed down there the next day and confirmed that it was just the place I needed to go. I found everything I needed- a few light weight planters, tiger branches that would be perfect for my earring tree, moss, a cute little owl, floral styrofoam and other odds and ends. I set my table up in our garage and started assembling.

I had scoured the Internet for something light weight that would look like tree stumps to hold up my shelf and give my display some much need height. I searched all over the place for paper mache ideas, planters, foot stools, etc but didn't come across anything that was just right. I did run across an awesome blog titled 'It's Knot Wood' that posts all things faux bois (fake wood) which was great for inspiration. Most importantly they reminded me about woodgrain contact paper! Viola! I'd make my own tree stumps!

I ended up finding two galvanized metal, tall flower pots that would be just the right height for the project. Next I cut a couple of big pieces of contact paper (which I found at ACE hardware) and crumpled them up. This was quite fun since avoiding wrinkles is usually the trickiest part of working with contact paper. I started attaching it to the upside down flower pots and my tree trunk idea finally became a reality.

Here are some additional updates I made:* Added additional table linens for more color* Made a new Vivi Dot sign from foix bois contact paper and coordinating paper* Made new price tags and laminated them with my new favorite craft toy* Created a pot full of flower brooches with the card holders you get in a bouquet of flowers (spray painted them green)* Put together an earring tree out of tiger branches- complete with a cute little owl* Made a fabric covered board on a diagonal slope to make it easier to see everything- I added ridges made out of doweling to keep everything from sliding* Covered the button board frame and easel with the foix bois contact paper

Check out my photos of my redisigned booth from the May Capsule Street Fair below. And if you live in San Francisco you can come check it out in person at the Indie-mart on July 27th (12-6pm at Thee Parkside in Potrero Hill).